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PHILADELPHIA -- If any post game comment -- not involving bad defense -- summed up the Chicago Blackhawks' 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers it came from captain Jonathan Toews.

“Great to see those young guys pushing it,” Toews said. “The rest of us need to follow it.”

That’s right. The best two players on the ice for the Hawks were rookies Andrew Shaw and Jimmy Hayes, playing in their first and third career games. They were monsters but if the rookies are outplaying the stars that might not be a good thing. Still, they were impressive.

“Liked them,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “Liked them all. I thought they all played real well.”

And Quenneville didn’t like much else about the loss so you know he meant it. Defenseman Dylan Olsen, also making his debut, was less impressive than the forwards but it would have been hard for anyone to be better.

Shaw almost scored on his first shift, he fought on his second, tallied a goal in the second period and nearly completed the Gordie Howe hat trick in the third with a pretty feed to Patrick Kane, but Ilya Bryzgalov made the save.

“It’s great for them,” Jonathan Toews said. “Everyone is excited, everyone is pumped around them. To see those guys have some success.”

Shaw joked on Wednesday that it was going to be “a war” in Philadelphia the next night. After the game he looked like he had just been through one, sporting 8-10 stitches on the left side of his forehead caused by a fight with Zac Rinaldo.

“He challenged me, I accepted,” Shaw said. “I knew how he would fight. He keeps throwing and throwing. He caught me with one off the start.”

Shaw’s first career goal came in a key moment, putting the Hawks ahead 2-1.

“Puck came loose, made a little move around a defenseman and went 5 hole,” he said.

No one was more impressed than Toews, who centered for Shaw until the rookie was moved with Kane and Marian Hossa, ostensibly to ignite that duo in the third period.

“It’s natural for anyone to go out there and be out of sync and out of timing a little bit, but it seemed like [Shaw] was in the right places and doing the right things,” Toews said. “Huge confidence boost to get that fight and get that goal and get us going there.

As good as Shaw was, Hayes may have been better. Almost every time he touched the puck good things happened, especially in the way of scoring chances for him and his line. He showed soft hands to open the scoring when Jamal Mayers fed him in front of the Flyers' net.

“Hayes has been working so hard and showing what he can do the last couple of games,” Toews said.

Hayes was all over the place, finishing with four shots in just 8:33 of ice time. That number led the team after two periods. Hayes was a force and Shaw made a difference. It was a bright spot in an otherwise bad night.

Slappers

The Hawks won just 45 percent of their face-offs. Kane was just 2 of 10 and Dave Bolland was 3 of 11.

Patrick Sharp was plus-3, on ice for all four Hawks goals as well as one Flyers score.

Fifteen Hawks were on the ice for at least one goal against.

PHILADELPHIA -- There was so much nostalgia heading into the Chicago Blackhawks game against the Philadelphia Flyers it was only appropriate that the Hawks played liked they did in the Stanley Cup finals in 2010.

But they played more like Game 3 and 4 instead of their Game 6 clincher.

“Brutal, brutal loss,” coach Joel Quenneville said after the 5-4 defeat. “Reminds me of the game we were here last time. Very similar way to lose.”

Quenneville is talking about a previous regular season game the Hawks lost late just as they did on Thursday when James Van Riemsdyk tallied a power-play score with 32 seconds remaining.

But he could have been talking about how they lost in Game 4 of the finals in June 2010. The Flyers spent an inordinate amount of time in the Hawks' zone inundating goalie Antti Niemi. The same happened throughout the game on Thursday, this time to Ray Emery.

“We’re just not stopping them in those dangerous areas,” Jonathan Toews said of defensive zone coverage. “We’re just swooping through hoping to get offensive breaks to go the other way on odd-man rushes. We’re just swinging through areas and not stopping.”

The result was a season-high 46 shots against. And many came in the form of second chance opportunities.

“If you’re lazy you’re going to miss pucks, and they’re going to get extra chances,” Toews said.

Forget the comeback the Hawks nearly pulled off. Down 4-2 late, they scored two goals -- one by a slumping Patrick Kane -- before Kane took a crucial penalty with a high-stick.

We already know the Hawks have enough offensive firepower but can they stop teams enough to win a championship?

“Second opportunities is what we had to be better at,” Quenneville said.

There was no pair of defensemen spared from the onslaught. Nick Leddy and Niklas Hjalmarsson were both minus-2 and while Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook were plus-2, both were on the ice for the winning power-play goal against and one other Philadelphia score. Sean O’Donnell and Dylan Olsen were scored upon as well.

But it was Leddy and Hjalmarsson who faltered the most in their own zone.

“I probably could have eliminated the turnovers and the mistakes,” Leddy said. “I have to be better defensively.”

He wasn’t and overall the Hawks weren’t.

In 2010, they were able to overcome a bad matchup with Philadelphia because when the Flyers impose their will in the Hawks zone, they can dominate. They did it then and they did again Thursday. Are the Hawks good enough to overcome as they did that season?

On Thursday, they weren’t.

PHILADELPHIA -- Here's a quick look at the Chicago Blackhawks' 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday:

How it happened: The Hawks had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 thanks to rookies Jimmy Hayes and Andrew Shaw but they gave it back, and then some, in an atrocious stretch in the second period. Three goals in 4:20 by Philadelphia was the difference and the game was essentially over. But even before the Flyers went off the Hawks were playing poor in their own zone unable to clear the puck and giving Philadelphia multiple scoring chances per sequence. All six defenders for the visitors had issues and were on the ice for goals against. Ray Emery was under siege, facing 34 shots in the first 40 minutes. Hayes scored off a Jamal Mayers feed, showing soft hands in the process. Brent Seabrook and Patrick Kane evened the score 25 seconds apart in the third. But James van Riemsdyk's goal with 30 seconds left won it for the Flyers.

What it means: It’s the Hawks' third loss in four games officially putting them in a mini-funk. When Hayes and Shaw are two of the best forwards on the ice it’s probably not a good thing. The Hawks' defense, in their own zone, when pressured, continues to be a sore spot at times, reminiscent of losses in Games 3 and 4 in the Stanley Cup finals in 2010 in the same building. The Hawks were caught chasing the Flyers and getting out of position as Emery had to attempt sprawling saves.

Shaw’s debut: The fifth-round pick began his NHL career with a bang. First he fought Zac Rinaldo, getting bloodied in the process, but returned to score his first NHL goal in the second period on a beauty of a back-hander. Shaw showed good hands and feet, impressing on his first night in the league.

What’s next: The Hawks return to Chicago to face the Colorado Avalanche on Friday. Expect Corey Crawford to start in goal.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Chicago Blackhawks trail the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 after two periods at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Hawks gave up a trio of goals in the middle 20 minutes over the span of 4:20. They led 1-0 and then 2-1 before the Flyers exploded. The Hawks have played poorly in their own zone as 15 different players have been on the ice for at least one goal against.

Rookie Andrew Shaw scored his first NHL goal in his first game to briefly give the Hawks a second-period lead before things imploded for the visitors. Shaw also fought in the first period.

Ray Emery played well in the first but has been inundated with shots and good scoring chances. Philadelphia is outshooting the Hawks 34-22 through 40 minutes. Jimmy Hayes has the Hawks' other goal, scored back in the opening period.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers are tied 1-1 after the first period at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Hawks took the lead thanks to the play of their fourth line led by young Jimmy Hayes. He scored his second goal in just his third career game when he re-directed a pass from Jamal Mayers past goalie Ilya Bryzgalov early in the game. Mayers saved off-sides on the play barely keeping it in the Flyers' zone before Hayes was able to tally.

The Flyers tied it at 19:09 after the Hawks could not clear the zone and the puck was shot off the end boards and onto the stick of Jakub Voracek on the other side. Voracek scored in the open net.

Twenty-year old Andrew Shaw fought Zac Rinaldo in the second shift of his NHL career. The two swung wildly with Shaw getting bloodied and going off for repairs. He returned later in the period. Shaw had a great scoring chance on his first shift but the puck eluded his stick in the slot where he stood wide open.

Ray Emery was solid in net, despite the goal, and tested often. The Flyers had 13 shots while the Hawks spent too much time in their own end.

Philadelphia Flyers C Danny Briere talks to ESPN Chicago's Jesse Rogers about trying to crash the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup reunion Thursday in Philly.

PHILADELPHIA -- Heading back to Philadelphia for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2010 is bound to bring back some emotional memories for Chicago Blackhawks’ players who are still with the team.

Nine players and two coaches remain from that championship squad and when they take the ice at the Wells Fargo Center it’ll be for the first time since June 9, 2010 when they hoisted the cup by night’s end.

Before leaving for Pennsylvania on Wednesday, three players were asked their initial thoughts in returning to a place undoubtedly etched in their memories forever.

Patrick Kane

He scored the most famous Blackhawks’ goal in 49 years, winning Game 6 in overtime and ending the series. Such an iconic moment in Chicago isn’t as easy to recall for Kane as you might think.

“The obvious answer would be the goal but to be honest with you that whole thing is blacked out from my memory,” Kane said. “The only thing I really remember about that when I watch the replays is the celebration on the ice and in the locker room after. That was something very special. I had four buddies down with my family, all your teammates, all the people that are close to you in the organization. It was a fun moment. And a great couple weeks after, too.”

Kane was pressed on why he can’t remember details of his most famous moment as a professional hockey player.

“I guess you can’t believe it’s something that happened to you,” he said. “Surreal is a good word. I don’t remember making the move or shooting the puck, maybe running down the ice a little bit to [goalie] Antti Niemi. After, I remember looking for my family and my buddies on the ice. It all seemed like it happened so quick.”

Jonathan Toews

The Hawks’ center is part of a small fraternity of hockey players who get to touch the Stanley Cup first when the commissioner of the league hands it to them moments after the game ends.

“I had a solid five seconds before I handed it off to [Marian Hossa] but it was a good five seconds, and I made sure I had a little skate with it later on,” he said. “But to be the first to hoist it was awesome.”

Toews thinks memories will start flowing back as soon as the Hawks reach their hotel.

“Just being back in that locker room, we’ll have some old stories we can tell,” Toews said. “I’m sure the new guys are sick enough about hearing all that stuff. They’ll have a couple more days of it I guess.”

Niklas Hjalmarsson

He was finishing his first full year in the NHL and it came to a close with a career highlight moment -- hoisting the Cup. Hjalmarsson was asked his initial thoughts of being back in Philadelphia for the first time since that night.

“Happiness,” he said. “It’s pretty much the only word. Explosion. Just a bunch of feelings coming up at the same time. It was a pretty cool feeling that you definitely want to experience at least one more time.”

Hjalmarsson thinks he’ll feel it most when the Hawks gather Thursday morning for practice at the Wells Fargo Center.

“It’s probably when you’re entering the arena,” he said. “We had good feeling last time we were there. We won. Hopefully we can bring back those feelings and memories and have a good game in there.”

An 11-year NHL linesman who had been temporarily removed from working playoff games while contending with questions about the missing puck from last year's 2010 Stanley Cup final will resume his duties next week in Tampa Bay, the league confirmed on Saturday.

Steve Miller, 38, was not included among the officials assigned to work the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, according to the list made public by the NHL on Friday.

But on Saturday, Gary Meagher, the league's senior vice president for public relations, told ESPN that the matter is now "closed."

Read the entire story.

CHICAGO -- It’s hard to know how bad the Chicago Blackhawks should feel about their play in Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

They didn’t play their best, but they played far from their worst, trailing just 1-0 after two periods.

“They are at the top of the league for a reason; they’ve got a lot of weapons,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “[Sergei Bobrovsky] was strong in net, and [the] defense was pretty good.”

In other words, measuring up to the Flyers isn’t easy and the Hawks mostly came up short because they failed to capitalize early in the game when they owned an edge in play.

“They scored first,” Quenneville said. “We had a good start to the game and did a lot of good things, but that was the important goal.”

After that score, the Blackhawks stopped going to the net and tried to get fancy on offense instead of staying gritty.

“In more ways than one, we were too easy to defend,” Jonathan Toews said. “We weren’t on the same page with each other and that made it harder to be predictable, especially in the offensive zone when it’s time to capitalize on some of our chances.”

It might have been an easier loss to swallow if the Hawks had played poorly from start to finish -- chalk it up to a lackluster effort on a day where the city’s sports focus was at Soldier Field’s NFC Championship Game.
But the loss really shows how far the Hawks have fallen from last year’s title team and how much better the Flyers have become.

“It’s depth they’ve lost,” Chris Pronger said. “They’ve just filled it with some younger guys.”

A season ago, it was Chicago flying high into the playoffs, one point from the No. 1 seed, while Philadelphia didn’t find its legs until the postseason.

The roles are reversed, now, and the Hawks are certainly hoping to pull things together by the playoffs. But that’s where they undoubtedly want the similarities to end. Philadelphia didn’t make the playoffs until the final day of the regular season.

The Hawks are hoping they won’t have to wait that long -- but their season-long inconsistent play might say differently.

Slappers

A day after winning just 40 percent of their faceoffs against the Detroit Red Wings, the Hawks improved to only 44 percent versus Philadelphia. Jake Dowell was a team-worst 22 percent in the circle.

Troy Brouwer led the Hawks with six hits and ranks fifth in the league with 162.

Marian Hossa’s successful penalty shot was the first at home since Dec. 30, 1987 and the first-ever scored by a Hawk at the United Center.

The Chicago Blackhawks don't know where it is and neither does Chris Pronger of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Read the full story.

Here's a quick look at the Hawks' loss to the Flyers on Saturday afternoon.

How it happened: The Hawks didn’t generate enough offense in the second half of the game opting for perimeter shots instead of crashing the net. They played well on defense, especially in the first period, but in attempting the third period comeback they gave up a couple of goals to ice it for Philadelphia. The Flyers had 19 shots on net in the second when they scored the first goal of the game by Scott Hartnell on a goalmouth scrum. Nikolai Zherdev added a wrap-around tally in the third while Hartnell scored his second of the game in the final period. Marian Hossa finally got the Hawks on the board with a penalty shot goal in the third, awarded when a Flyers player closed his hand on the puck in front of their goal. Hartnell added an empty-netter to make it 4-1.

What it means: The Hawks held their own for much of the game against the best team in the NHL this season but it wasn’t good enough. They didn’t take any momentum from a good first period into the second. After Philadelphia scored, the Hawks stopped going to the net, looking for the fancier play. Getting a dirty goal -- and subsequently maybe at least a point in the standings -- would have been a very good afternoon. Instead, it’s just a decently played loss, but a loss nonetheless.

Fight night: John Scott was in the lineup but a heavyweight bout between he and Jody Shelley never materialized. Instead there were a couple of other fights including a short one between Bryan Bickell and Scott Hartnell in the first period. Jake Dowell and Daniel Carcillo had a good one in the second.

Hossa penalty shot: It was the first successful penalty shot in the United Center by the Hawks since the building opened. The first at home since Dec. 30, 1987.

What’s next: The Hawks have one more game before the All-Star break. They’ll host Minnesota on Tuesday in their 50th contest of the season. Just 32 remain after the break.

The Chicago Blackhawks trail the Philadelphia Flyers 1-0 after two periods at the United Center.

The only goal of the game was scored after an extended scrum in front of the Hawks net. Goalie Corey Crawford was on his stomach trying to protect one half of the net while Marian Hossa was playing goal on the other half. Players from both sides were hacking at the puck until Jeff Carter finally poked it by Hossa and Crawford.

The Hawks had less scoring chances in the second period than in the first, managing nine shots on net to the Flyers 19. The Hawks seemed content attempting perimeter shots with little traffic in front of the Flyers’ net, until some chances late in the period.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers are scoreless after the first period at the United Center.

For the second consecutive day the Hawks had the edge in scoring chances in the opening 20 minutes but Sergei Bobrovsky was up to the challenge in net for the Flyers. His best save came when he stuck his right pad out to stop Patrick Sharp on the doorstep.

The Hawks played well on defense not allowing a Philadelphia forecheck much opportunity to cause damage.

Both teams had a power play chance but could not score. Bryan Bickell and Scott Hartnell had a short fight early in the game.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks will walk a fine line Saturday when they finally get back on the ice against their arch-rival Detroit Red Wings.

A week of rest is nice, but there always exists the possibility of rust setting in, and the Hawks don’t want to take too long to shake off the cobwebs.

“It’s great to have the layoff, but we want to be at the level we were at before the layoff,” defenseman Brian Campbell said after practice on Thursday. “We want to start right away and not wait for a period or period and a half.”

Joel Quenneville ran an up tempo practice Thursday to get the Hawks thinking about a fast pace when they get back to game action. With two of the past three days spent off the ice, he wants his team ready for a big weekend against the Wings and Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.

“We have to be ready to set the pace and dictate as much as we can,” he said. “We can’t anticipate we’re going to catch up in the middle of the game. We turned the switch back on [Thursday] and I thought they did a good job with it.”

If there is one thing Quenneville wants to accomplish with a week of practice it’s seeing improvement in the Hawks' penalty-killing, ranked 27th in the NHL.

“It’s an area we know we can get better, and we want to get better at a faster rate,” Quenneville said.

While some players talked of the possibility of catching the Red Wings in the division -- they’re eight points behind as of Thursday -- Quenneville is focused on the day-to-day.

“First things first,” he said. “Trying to get out of that [playoff] bubble.”

The Hawks are the No. 8 seed but most of the conference has finally caught them in games played.

“There’s a chance you get on a great roll and you have a chance at home ice in the first round,” he said. “That’s the advantage of not being satisfied with the first part of the year, but [at least] we kept ourselves in play. Now we have to do something about it.”

Quenneville indicated Corey Crawford would start Saturday’s game against Detroit.

Campbell excels: Campbell is on a nice roll. He’s contributing at both ends of the ice and for the first time as a Hawk he’s getting extended time killing penalties. It took Campbell a long while to feel comfortable coming off a knee injury which started his season a month late.

“Sometimes you get in a rut,” Campbell said. “I felt good, but I felt like I could do more. Joel wants us to jump up into the play more sometimes than we even want to. I’m trying to do that.”

Campbell’s plus-23 rating sticks out like a sore thumb. He’s third in the NHL and hasn’t had a minus game since Dec. 19, a span of 12 contests. He also has assists in four of the past five games.

“Over time, there is a reason you’re plus-23,” Quenneville said. “It's pretty remarkable. The core is in and around being plus, but not at that rate. It’s an indication things are going pretty well.”

Quenneville is right about Campbell’s teammates. Most of the defense has hovered around being even players while some have languished on the minus side. The next best plus/minus belongs to Niklas Hjalmarsson at plus-8. That’s a far cry from Campbell, who’s taking the attention in stride.

“Someday if I’m a minus 23, you guys will mention that,” he joked. “I feel great with my defensive game as well as my offensive game.”

As for killing penalties, he’s only been doing it since the Hawks sent Jassen Cullimore to the minors.

“I feel great with it now,” Campbell said. “I’m comfortable. It keeps me in the game more. I just want to keep learning and keep getting better at it.”

Charity watch: Campbell believes his second annual celebrity Texas Hold’em tournament may have raised double the intake of a year ago, though no official numbers have been compiled yet. Campbell and the entire Hawks team were on hand at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind., on Tuesday night.

“It was a great time,” Campbell said. “[Troy] Brouwer, [Jordan] Hendry, and [Corey] Crawford lasted the longest. Crawford was into it. He had the whole get up. He made his own t-shirt, he had sunglasses and headphones on too."

Crawford was thrilled to finish second.

“[I] got myself mentally prepared,” he said with a straight face. “I had my best game out there. I caught some bad luck. I got beat by a pretty good player.”

Crawford was asked if he was talking cards or playing goalie.

“We’re talking cards,” he joked.

Marian Hossa was the first Hawks player eliminated from the tournament.

“No regrets, I had a great hand,” Hossa said. “Even the pro guys said I made the right call.”

Hossa got beat holding three eights, considered a strong hand in Texas Hold’em.